The present invention relates to a printing process for printing a design onto cork tiles for flooring, wall coverings, and ceilings.
Cork is a natural material that is harvested from the bark of cork oak trees, which are endemic to Southwest Europe and Northwest Africa. Cork is extracted by removing the bark from the trees. Cork is a renewable material in that the cork oak tree regenerates naturally after each extraction of its bark. During a typical lifespan of 150 to 200 years, a cork oak tree can be extracted 15-18 times.
Cork is elastic, highly impermeable, and fire retardant. The characteristics of cork are due to its cellular structure. Cork is composed of small cells of suberin, which are filled with a gas mixture similar to air. The unique structure and materials of cork provide cork with many useful properties. For example, it's high-permeability and elasticity make cork suitable for the most common use as a bottle stopper. The same characteristics also make cork suitable for use as a gasket material, fishing floats and buoys, as well as handles for fishing poles. Cork's cellular form and fire retardant properties also make it suitable for use as acoustic and thermal insulation in-house walls, floors, ceilings, and façades.
Cork is also increasingly used as a flooring and wall covering material. The following properties of cork make it highly suitable for use as a flooring material:
Durable—the elastic properties of cork allow it to bounce back so that furniture indentations are not permanent;
Healthy—cork is anti-microbial, naturally resistant to mold, mildew, and termites, and it does not off-gas or shared microfibers;
Safe—cork is fire resistant and produces less smoke and less toxic material than vinyl flooring during combustion;
Comfortable—a cork floor provides a comfortable cushion underfoot because it gives one compressed, and is also a natural thermal and acoustic insulator.
Because the cork oak tree regenerates the extracted cork bark, the harvesting practice is sustainable. Therefore the use of cork has little negative impact on the environment. Further the manufacturing process for cork flooring generates almost no waste. In fact, cork flooring uses the residuals from the production of cork stoppers. The residuals are finely ground and combined with binders such as, for example, polyurethane. Increasingly, pigments are added to create different colors or patterns. However, the known methods of applying colors or patterns are difficult to use and the appearance of cork floor and wall coverings are still limited.